Just one weekend after a meet with some of the best racing weather New England can offer, Boston was hit with a cold and blustery day. Despite the conditions, the women's track and field team still managed to leave the non-scoring MIT Invitational with five individual victories.
The Jumbos' throwing squad showed its power and depth, taking victories in the shot put, discus and hammer throw. Sophomore Kelly Allen, while unable to top any of her national-caliber marks, won the hammer and discus with throws of 148-04 and 134-05, respectively. She also took second in the shot put with a throw of 38-04 3/4.
In addition to Allen's performance, junior Ronke Oyekunle also provided top marks in all three throwing events. She edged Allen for first place in the shot put with a throw of 39-00 1/2 and finished second behind Allen in the discus. She came in third in the hammer throw, just over two feet off second place.
The wind certainly had an effect on the discus results. The gusts blew sideways to the throwing circle, making the technical aspect of the throw a little more difficult.
"Physically and mentally, the weather definitely has an effect," senior tri-captain Kanku Kabongo said, referring to the heavy wind. "It is very important to stay warm on a day like that. Running a full lap or more was tough because you got the headwind every time you came down the home stretch."
Kabongo finished fifth in the 100 meters in 12.95 seconds. She was also a member of the runner-up 4x100-meter relay, consisting of Kabongo, freshman Jana Hieber and sophomores Alyssa Corrigan and Sam Bissonnette. The relay's time of 51.38 is a season best.
"We are still mixing up who we have run the relay to see what works best for us," Kabongo said. "By NESCACs we are hoping to have the best team possible running the relay."
The mental effect of inclement weather can cripple an athlete's performance if the right attitude isn't there. With only four meets prior to the postseason on the team's outdoor schedule, there is always a sense of urgency to hit qualifiers.
"You can never go out and say you can't qualify," Kabongo said. "When we have so few meets, it's important to not put too much importance on one meet and just stay competitive throughout the season. Treating each meet as an opportunity to get better is really important."
Senior Amy Wilfert led the 5,000 meters from start to finish, braving the conditions and not letting any wind stop her. Her time of 17:38.31 was 16 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher and was only three seconds off an NCAA provisional qualifying time. She earned the NESCAC Track Performer of the Week for her efforts.
"It is nice to know that I can run that fast by myself for the whole race combined with those conditions," Wilfert said. "In terms of my fitness, I feel I'm in a good position to run well when the opportunity comes."
Wilfert's plan was to stay in the pack for the first mile and then move ahead and pick up the pace. However, when it became clear that nobody else in the race wanted to take the lead and break the wind, Wilfert had to go for it right away.
"It is important to just go out and race and be competitive," Wilfert said. "The times may not happen, but we can just focus on place and trying to compete as well as we can. It's a good opportunity to really just race people rather than focusing on the clock. It's definitely a different mentality than going into an invitational with a time goal and not really caring what place you get."
With one more week before the NESCAC Championships, the Jumbos look for a little bit of help from the weather to hit the qualifiers they need. Allen will represent the Jumbos at the Larry Ellis Invitational at Princeton on Friday, while the rest of the team will host the Tufts Invitational.
"We always can take something positive away from a race," Wilfert said. "We have to remember the fitness is there and to be patient. Each race gets us more ready for when the weather does allow us to put together our best performances."
